cassie [she/her, 23]

This is a Top 5 Hotch look for me. What a babe.

For Part 1, go here.

Alex has been roped into a game of Outrun the Tide! with several kids. She chases the waves as they recede, then runs as it returns. Sometimes she lets the water catch her--- playfully pretending it is going to sweep her away. The kids all grab onto her hands to pull her back to safety. As they babble on about sharks and boats, she can't help but think about how their language use reveals their regional upbringing. A boy reminds her of Ethan, but it's comforting. Everything is good.

Gideon knows how to relax. He's in a chair next to Hotch, somehow so comfortable that he's out. Fast asleep. Slightly snoring. His arms are crossed and he's pulled his ball cap over his eyes. He brought a book about coastal birds that he intended to read. But like a dad in a recliner, he couldn't resist a good nap. When they go to dinner, he will take way too long with the wine selection. He and Rossi will argue over who chose best.

Luke is OBSESSED with the amusement park at the pier down the shore. There's a Ferris wheel! A rickety old roller coaster! Garcia is greatly annoyed that he keeps interrupting her fantasy book to muse about how fun it looks. It's obvious he's gunning for her to go check it out with him but, according to Garcia, it "looks like a death trap". Luke eventually wins her over with the promise of stuffed animal prizes and a wager that Luke will not last two rides on the coaster before needing to ice his back. They ride the Ferris wheel together after he loses the wager. It's hard to avoid how beautiful the view is.

Tara got tacos from three separate beachside snack shacks. Prentiss and Morgan join her in a taste test to figure out which one has the best tacos. It's a three-way tie and Tara pulls the Dr. Tara Lewis card and declares her choice to be the ultimate winner. The competitive personalities intensify. Pretty soon, the three are seeing who will go the furthest into the ocean. Tara Lewis, tall queen of the BAU, wins by a landslide. Morgan keeps thinking something is touching his leg. Prentiss teases him until she feels something, too.

Hotch finally gets up, tired of Gideon's snoring, and starts combing the sand for shells. Although most of them are for Jack, he saves a sand dollar to give Garcia at dinner. "Mermaids,” he says, pointing to her fantasy novel cover. "Sand dollars are supposed to be lost mermaid coins, right?” She will keep it on her bookshelf forever.

Reid explains the radial symmetry of sand dollars and their evolution during the Paleocene. JJ talks about collecting them as a kid. Reid will, unsuccessfully, try to track one down for her in the dark after dinner.

Garcia has a full setup-- huge blankets and an umbrella and pillows even. She's wearing the cutest dang sunglasses in the world, reading a fantasy romance book.

JJ sunbathes next to Reid, listening to him explain the engineering technicalities of building the perfect sandcastle.

Prentiss and Morgan have not-so-subtly disguised their cocktails in 7-Eleven Slurpee cups. Morgan talks her into frisbee and inevitably steps on Reid's sandcastle while trying to catch a throw.

Instead of apologizing, Morgan teases him about being around so many beautiful ladies and choosing to build a sandcastle.

Hotch, who's been sitting silently with his arms crossed staring into the ocean, puts on his Dad Voice and tells Morgan to be nice.

Rossi is gone. He started strolling down the shore and straight up disappeared. He will come back in an hour with insider knowledge on the best restaurant for dinner.

... ... ...

EDIT: just rewatched S8E5 and Reid hates the beach because of drug-resistant bacteria spread by seagulls so yes, he's building the perfect sandcastle but he's constantly interrupted by seagulls coming anywhere near him. It's like a giant spider-- he backs away, super skittish, and eventually Morgan has to step in and shoo them away. Morgan, Emily, and JJ kind of laugh at his reaction until he describes in excruciating detail what the bacteria will do to them.

it isn’t until prentiss goes to get him because they need his help that anyone goes to his apartment.

he’s always there for everyone else and when he needs someone to check in on him, no one does. until THEY need HIM.